Point of View

Let’s Talk About L.A.N.

by Leon Caren

Maybe it’s the season, or maybe it’s the just the fact that we’ve been doing this for so long. In any case, with the L.A.N. Party coming up, I feel the need to redefine why we’re doing what we’re doing. What is this Subbacultcha ship that we’ve been sailing on for all these years? In a way L.A.N. party is exactly how Subbacultcha started back in 2004. We wanted to support our local scene, create a community, start a fire. Not a real one, obviously. But one that would blow up in the face of all bullshit mainstream music media. So we organized an event called Subbacultcha, with all the finest local artists we could find.

I’m of the utmost conviction that the only way to stay true to yourself is by changing constantly

Much has changed since then. For one thing, mainstream music media have kindly pulled their own respective plugs. Now what we have is a fragmented media landscape. With lots of voices and lots of opinions. And amongst all the noise it’s even harder to define what’s real and what’s product placement. But there’s still a lot of great new music, and a need to make that music heard. A need to support those artists who are going against the grain, doing something different.

So at the heart of it, many things have stayed the same. And I’m of the utmost conviction that the only way to stay true to yourself is by changing constantly. As long as you keep redefining your starting point, you’ll be fine. Don’t be afraid. The worst that can happen, is that you end up like Eddie Vedder, singing ‘I changed by not changing at all’ which is another way of saying that you’ve become a conservative asshole who feels that the best has already happened.

So I tried to make a list. A set of rules concerning artists that we want to support. Here it goes:

It’s simple really.

Leon Caren co-founded Subbacultcha in 2004. L.A.N. Party is this Friday, 15 December at De School, Amsterdam.